How We Can Help You!

When it comes to all of your life insurance needs, rely on the knowledgeable team of experts at Van Winkle Insurance Group. With more than 50 years of experience, our experts can discuss a bevy of insurance services with you and develop a plan that’s perfect for your lifestyle, as well as your budget. Most individuals are unaware of the different types of life insurance policies. Our friendly staff will take the time to discuss each of the plans you’re interested in purchasing and discuss the pros and cons of each one. Our job is to educate you, so that you have the knowledge needed to make the best choice for you, your family, and your business.

Get the Info on Insurance Brokers vs. Agents

A insurance broker is an independent insurance agent who works with many insurance companies to find the very best available policies for his or her clients. A typical insurance agent works for one specific company, and chooses from within that company’s policies for clients. This limits product selection and prices customers receive. We have over sixteen different carriers to choose from.

It is for Life…

Life exists between the hours of the work week. Most importantly, it exists in the eyes of sons and daughters and those you hold close – those forever expecting your safe return home.

Life Insurance from Van Winkle Agency gives you the opportunity to protect your family’s dreams, ambitions, and finances should an unexpected death occur.

Take a moment to talk with your family about life insurance and review rates online. If you have any questions, speak with a Van Winkle Insurance Group agent to help ensure you have the coverage you need and the protection your family deserves.

Some Interesting Facts About Life Insurance

Insured events that may be covered include: death, diagnosis of a terminal illness, diagnosis of a critical illness, disability due to ill health, permanent disability, accidental death, or requirement for long term care.

Not only can life insurance benefit your family in the event of your death, but it can also benefit you as an investment. Your life insurance can provide benefits to your children, emergency loans to you while you are still alive, and some other benefits as well. For the remainder of this article, we will outline each of the benefits available to you and your family under a typical life insurance policy so that you can decide if life insurance might be right for you, or if you need to make changes to your already existing life insurance policy.

The most well known feature of a life insurance contract is the designation of a beneficiary. In the event of your death, benefits can be distributed to one or more beneficiaries of your choosing. There are many different types of beneficiaries that you can establish, so we need to review each one and weigh the pros and cons of each.

You can specify multiple beneficiaries if you choose to do so. For example, you might want to have your spouse as well as all of your children listed as beneficiaries. You can also stipulate the percentage of the proceeds that each beneficiary is to receive. Most people list their wife as the sole beneficiary while the children are still young, and then as the

children get older, they modify their policy to include their children for a certain percentage of the death benefit. A guardian or trustee needs to be appointed to administer the payout of the proceeds to any beneficiaries that are still a minor.

It is also common to name a contingent beneficiary. If your primary beneficiary dies, then the contingent beneficiary is next in line to receive the proceeds of your life insurance when you die. Also, your beneficiary designation can be revocable or irrevocable. If it is revocable, you can change it any time without permission to do so. If the designation is irrevocable, you can not appoint a new beneficiary without the consent of the current beneficiary.

There are a few different types of life insurance. For our purposes here, we are only going to make a distinction between those types of policies that provide you with money while you are still living and those that do not because we want to hold our focus on the benefits of life insurance, not the different types of coverage.

Term life insurance does not give you the potential for income while you are still living. It only pays a benefit in the event you die during the covered term. Other types of coverage, such as variable life, universal life, and whole life, do have a cash surrender value because a portion of each premium payment you make is invested in a separate account. That money can accrue over time, depending upon what the money is being invested in. You have the option of investing the money in fixed income or variable investment funds.

You can terminate your policy while you are still alive. If you choose to do so, you will receive the amount that has been invested, minus the surrender charges that the insurance company will assess on the money for early withdrawal.

You can also take a loan against the cash value of your policy. The interest rates for these types of loans are typically small, and you can pay back the loan in a lump sum or installments. If you default on the loan, the insurance company will pay off the loan using the accumulated cash value that you borrowed against.

We hope this information will help you weigh all your options when you decide to buy a life insurance policy. If you already have a policy, review it carefully to make sure you have a policy that suits your needs.